2022-23 season, that's when. .715 winning percentage in all non-conference games, which is vastly superior to every other conference.
https://www.collegehockeynews.com/re...php?s=20222023
National championships won by Big Ten schools : 23
National championships won by NCHC schools : 21
Congrats to Big00 for having the best overall out-of-conference record in 2022-2023. (However, only 7-8-2 combined against ECAC and HE!) But let's inspect these numbers a little closer.
It is worth noting that of the overall Big00 out-of-conference 2022-2023 record of 55-21-3, the regular season was 49-18-3 and 6-3-0 was in the tournament.
If my calculations are correct, 30-4-1 of this record was during the regular season (31-4-1 including tournament) was against the lowest 2/5 in Pairwise (#38-61).
Thus, 19-14-2 of this record was during the regular season (24-17-2 including tournament) was against the highest 3/5 in Pairwise (#1-37). Good but not "vastly superior."
Even more illuminating, the Big00 record during the regular season was 10-10-1 against teams in the top 15 Pairwise, or 14-13-1 including the tournament. [Only Michigan and Penn State had regular season winning records against their #1-15 Pairwise out-of-conference opponents.]
6 of the 7 Big00 teams were ranked in the top 17 Pairwise (the other ranked 37). So the Big00 record against comparable ranked teams is, honestly, AVERAGE, clearly not "vastly superior."
It would be great if in future years the Big00 conference would increase the number of games they play during the regular season versus ECAC and HE teams. As the 2022-2023 record shows, the games can be competitive for the players and entertaining for the fans. It would be a delight to see more future NHL stars in our little rinks. Perhaps have two Big00 teams each play a single game against two ECAC or HE teams in a weekend, scheduling nearby schools so the overnight travel is minimized (similar to how the ECAC regular season is scheduled).
I continue to be amused with folks arguing about tournament records for the past century, including years before many of us were born. (Possibly even when games were played outside on the local ponds!)
It is interesting to note that in the nine national tournaments since the Big00 and NCHC started play as separate conferences (2013-2014), NCHC has 5 tournament wins, HE and ECAC have two each, Big00 and AH and CCHA and independents have zero. Perhaps the Big00 teams are at a disadvantage playing so many games against only their conference at the end of the season. They don't get to experience the style of hockey played elsewhere in the latter part of the season.
